Co-founder of the Tory Party: Who is Henry St John Bolingbroke?

(1678-1751) English statesman and political philosopher. He is one of the founders of the conservative Tory Party in England. Born 1 October 1675 in London, died 12 December 1751 in Battersea. His father was Sir Henry St John and his mother was Lady Marv Rich. He went on a world tour between 1698-1699. He entered parliament in 1701. In 1704 he became minister of war in the Queen Anne administration. He resigned from this post in 1708 and lost his seat in parliament. He became minister of state in the new Tory government formed in 1710. He received the title of Viscount in 1712. Having the Treaty of Utrecht signed in 1713 won Bolingbroke the support of the middle classes who favored the end of the war. After the death of Queen Anne in 1714, Bolingbroke was removed from office when George I, known for his closeness to the 'Whigler', representing a liberal political trend, became king. He fled to France in 1715 after the Whig administration opened an investigation into Tory ministers. During the 10 years he spent in this country, he was interested in politics and philosophy. He returned to England in 1725. However, he was excluded from the House of Lords and active politics as a result of not being allowed to exercise all his nobility rights. In 1726 he founded a weekly magazine, the Craftsmen, and was editor of it for ten years.

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his antireligious views and opposition to theology. He supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the new king George I. Escaping to France he became foreign minister for the Pretender. 

Bolingbroke became the leading advocate of the aristocratic classes against the new order of financial and commercial capitalism represented by the Whig Party, Walpole, and the Bank of England. He continued an active struggle against the Whig government, of which Robert Walpole was prime minister. In his essay The Idea of a Patriot King, written in 1739 and published in 1749, he asked Prince Louis Frederic, son of King George II, to strengthen the monarchy and put an end to the corrupt practices of Walpole's parliamentary rule. This essay of his played an important role in the education of George III, son of Louis Frederic, who later became king.

Bolingbroke proposed a new form of political government for England. According to him, the British Constitution, with the checks and balances mechanisms it established, the freedoms it gave to the citizens, its original regulations regarding the parliamentary structure, and the privileges it gave to the kingdom, showed full compliance with the social structure of the society in the past. However, the money-owning classes represented by the Whigler, parliamentary corruption, and party politics have disrupted this harmony. New England will be formed as a result of the alliance of the people with a patriotic king who knows his true responsibilities. This alliance would overthrow the truly non-British Whig oligarchy.

Bolingbroke advocated Deism, which adopted a naturalistic understanding of religion. However, it was heavily influenced by Rationalism. He argued that with death, a man completely disappears. According to him, the existence of God can and must be proven through reasoning. Only correct logic can show the existence of God. Benevolence and compassion can only be established on the basis of logic. Bolingbroke believed that the best of all possible worlds was the existing world, ignoring existing injustices. Bolingbroke, who, despite his insistence on a priori logic, argued that logic can be wrong and that this can be corrected by returning to primitive religions, opposed the priesthood, like all Deists.

Bolingbroke's thought later became the basis for the famous Essay on Man by A Pope.